In general, inkjet printing machines or printers include at least one printhead that ejects drops or jets of liquid ink to produce an ink image on a recording or image forming media. A phase change inkjet printer employs phase change inks that are in the solid phase at ambient temperature, but transition to a liquid phase at an elevated temperature. Inkjets in one or more printheads eject the melted ink either directly onto a print medium or onto an intermediate imaging member and the image is transferred from the intermediate imaging member to the print medium. Once the ejected ink is on the print medium, the ink droplets quickly solidify to form a printed image.
One quality of a printed image is interchangeably referred to a “gloss,” “gloss level,” or the “glossiness” of the printed image. The glossiness of the printed image refers to how light is reflected from the surface of the printed image. In a printed image with a high gloss level, also referred to as a “glossy” image, a large portion of the light reflected from the printed image reflects in a specular manner. That is, a substantial portion of the light that reflects from the surface of the printed image reflects at an angle that is equivalent to the angle at which the incident light strikes the printed image. More plainly, a high gloss image has a more “mirror like” shine due to the specular reflection of light from the printed image. In a printed image with a low gloss level, also referred to as a “matte” image, a large portion of the light reflecting from the printed image reflects in a diffuse manner. In a diffuse reflection, reflected light leaves the printed image at many different angles instead of primarily reflecting at an angle equivalent to the incident angle of the light that strikes the printed image. More plainly, a matte image, which reflects light diffusely, appears to have less “shine” and can have a “softer” appearance compared to a glossy image.
Printed images with glossy and matte qualities are useful in a wide variety of printed documents. One known advantage of solid ink printers is that the composition of many solid inks produces ink images with a high gloss level without requiring specialized print media, such as glossy paper, and without requiring printer components that are specifically configured to add gloss to printed images. As noted above, however, many printed images are matte images that are produced with a low gloss level. Consequently, improvements to inkjet printers that enable production of printed images over a range of desired gloss levels would be beneficial.